Jazz aficionado and 20-year University of Saskatchewan music professor Dean McNeill leads Jazz Band rehearsal at the Education Building on the U of S campus in Saskatoon, SK on Monday, November 5, 2018.Liam Richards / Saskatoon StarPhoenix

Everything old is new again — at least, if the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra has anything to say about it.

The local big band jazz ensemble kicks off its newest season with a concert entitled Honouring the Tradition, combining classic standards with a more modern interpretation.

“You’re always walking a balance between doing something new, trying to connect the old with the new in engaging and exciting ways,” SJO artistic director Dean McNeill said. “That’s what makes good art.”

McNeill had some top-tier help in setting the program for this concert. Canadian jazz icon Guido Basso worked closely with McNeill in selecting the music, as well as deciding how to push some of the classics into the modern era.

Basso was slated to take part in the opening concert in Saskatoon on Sept. 14, but had to drop out. Renowned Toronto-based trumpet player Brian O’Kane was invited to play instead, as well as Juno-nominated Edmonton saxophone player Kent Sangster.

Despite Basso being unable to make it to the concert, McNeill said his input was instrumental in preparing the opening show of the season for the SJO.

“He helped curate half of the repertoire we’re going to be playing,” he said. “He’s jazz royalty in Canada, basically.”

Jazz, in a similar fashion to classical music, enjoys a particular musical problem: the oldies are often the huge favourites — or in many cases, the only songs from the genre that are known. Musicians like Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, and big bands like the Count Basie Orchestra tend to be what the wider audience recognizes.

“There’s a saying we use, that we stand on the shoulders of giants,” he said. “Everybody adds to the mosaic that is jazz, their own little piece — and that kind of cultural inclusion and diversity is what continues moving the music forward.”

With a Canadian repertoire pulled from famous jazz composers like Rob McConnell, who started and ran The Boss Brass Band in Toronto in the late ’60s, and more well-known jazz standards mixed in with some new twists, McNeill said he’s confident there will be a little music for both old and new jazz fans in the upcoming concert.

“I try to have something in there for everybody,” he said. “It’s just kind of a great way to kick-start the year with the Saskatoon Jazz Orchestra … we just try to hit it out of the park.”

Honouring the Tradition will take place on Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Broadway Theatre.